WASHINGTON – First of all, no, Brad Pitt is not short. Yes, he’s handsome enough to stand out in any crowd. And, sorry, Angie wasn’t with him.

From the moment he stepped into the Capitol on Thursday, sunglassed and goateed, Pitt’s star power transformed congressional business-as-usual in a way any lawmaker or new president might envy.

“Nice face. Waaaay too skinny,” one Senate source e-mailed on condition of anonymity after catching sight of the actor between meetings with lawmakers about helping rebuild New Orleans.

Pitt’s superpowers are such that he and President Barack Obama pulled off an improbable secret meeting on the same topic earlier in the day, White House spokesman Thomas F. Vietor confirmed.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, was not immune to his charms. Praising Pitt for his work to rebuild New Orleans’ hurricane-ravaged 9th Ward, she even allowed that meeting him affords her “bragging rights to my children and my grandchildren – a real treat for me as well.”

And during a closed meeting earlier, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid confided to Pitt that he was envious that his lieutenant, Majority Whip Dick Durbin, got to meet soccer star Mia Hamm a day earlier, according to one person who was present and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Well, Pitt replied, he’ll bring along co-parent Angelina Jolie next time to help Reid make Durbin jealous, this person said.

Later, a Durbin aide sniffed: “Durbin’s already met Angelina Jolie.”

These officials demanded anonymity because the meeting was private and they did not want to be caught gossiping about a movie star.

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